European Bioplastics says UMass study on bioplastics is flawed

In Germany, the industry group European Bioplastics is stating that a recent report from a group at the University of Massachusetts, “Sustainability of bio-based plastics: general comparative analysis and recommendations for improvement” was flawed.

According to an article in Plasteurope.com, European Bioplastics is quoted as stating “includes political parameters that are not necessarily scientifically backed up and cannot be seen as societal or academic consensus.”  The article further states the group noted that the study only examined a limited amount of bioplastic material types, resulting in conclusions that were described as “unbalanced.”   The study did use the Sustainable Biomaterials Collaborative catalog which describes 12 measures for sustainability,  but as noted in the article, those measures were designed for finished products, going well beyond just the manufacture of the material.

The UOM study stopped at the end of production of the bio-based plastic materials – well short of the final product the materials were intended for.